Broken Heel- calcaneus

[rfus]

I went big and hit the flats on hardpack up here in maine at the loaf. Big miscalculation.

I was in my crossmax 10.0's and my left heel just completely blew up. I am 2weeks post op and was wondering if anyone had ever gone through this. I guess the bone chunks were good around the sub talar and the cartilage did not look damaged. This is a tough injury.

Years ago, I dropped about 35 ft to the flats on a jump in winter park coming off a spin and attempting a screamin :tdo13: . I saw it coming and bailed. Broke three ribs and hand but was no where as near as painful as this whole ordeal.

Gimme some hope

[Mrs Roo]

I've seen this type of injury (in my dim and distant orto PT past), usually people jumping out of windows (how I love London theives and psychiatric patients). I assume you are non-weight bearing. It takes longer for the bones in your legs to heal than higher up and the calcaneum is a big, chunky bone therefore more swelling etc than a rib fracture.

Poor you.

[Mrs Roo]

Gimme some hope

Oh, sorry. Bones heal, mate. Do your rehab!

[former?climber]

check out this group:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/footinjuries/

there's a bunch of people on here with broken heels, there's photos, links to other resources, articles from medical sites, and lots of sympathy and hope.

[DSSK]

about a year ago i broke both my heels in a "chad's gap like indcident", actually it was in a big air competition, but im here for ya

[cmor]

I've done similar,broke one heel while badly bruising the other, unfortunately all I can say is that it was really hard to come back from, slow recovery, wasn't 100% for over 2 years or so...stay off of it if you can

[DSSK]

^ do you still have pain?

[Lauren07]

Hi,

I also just broke my heel august 22nd, and just had surgery on the 29th. Have you had surgery yet? Your results?......


L.

[wicked_sick]

I feel for you guys. All I had was a minor crack in my heel and it hurt for weeks.

Good Luck :)

[Snowmiser]

Hey Rfus!

Hope your Heeling! :).

I just read your post and wanted to offer my 2 cents worth of advise. I crushed my heel when I was 16. I looked for 20 years for a doctor who was willing to fix me. They all just kept giving me cortizone shots. I was constantly in pain, had a sever limp and couldn't even cut the lawn without having to hop or crawl to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I finally had it fixed in 2001 and things couldn't be better. I'm now a triathlete and a level II p.s.i.a. insturctor going for Level III this year.

Do yourself a huge favor and save yourself a ton of wasted time and pain, and find yourself an orthopedic surgeon who only does foot and ankles. They're at the top of their field. My guy has doctors from all over the country comining to town to do their fellowships with him. If you send me a note, I can give you his name or a few others around the U.S. that I know of.

Best wishes for a great recovery!

[recliner]

Hey rfus, I broke both heels last month in a rock climbing incident. Fell about 10 ft. off a boulder straight down onto my heels. Left one took the fall a little harder than the right, but both broke in several places. Had plates and screws installed in both 4 weeks ago. I'm in removable boots at the moment.

I'd like to hear how you are doing a year and a half later.

cmor, thank's for the advice about staying off the feet. That seems to be the general rule. But my ortho wants me up and in physical therapy ASAP, which I am all for. An acquaintance of mine broke his heel falling off a ladder. He was back on his feet two months later, and wake boarding in six months. I'm hoping I can make a similarly speedy recovery but am being realistic. We'll see how it goes.

[slideforlife]

i saw a picture of you two playing footsie.

Hope? how's this for hope... moved to whistler.

how're you doing?

[EC_the_tash]

Roofus, heal up and make sure you stick to a serious rehab plan. I had a similar crash about five years ago, huge over a table and smashed in the flats and fractured both calcs. No surgery for me, just a season ender in fucking January. Some genius ended a skiercross with a 50-60 ft. table, and I was just about tied for 1st at full fucking mach schnell and both me and my friend I was racing exploded in the flats. My right foot has got a click that never went away but the left made a full recovery.
Best of luck with yours

[gimpy]

wish i had some better words of encouragement for ya but basically you're bumming and should be for some time. i had surgery to correct a displaced fracture of my calc from a bouldering fall (20') 5 years ago and its still fucked. i can't run for shit but at least a stiff ski boot evens the playing field and is the only sport i do thats not bothered by it. hopefully yours turns out better and good luck.

[trvlarrngr]

Hi

I broke my right calcaneus 9/16/06 and had surgery to put in a plate and 9 screws. It is over a year later and I still have lots of pain. Doc says it is arthritis in the joint - I guess subtular? I have to say that what kept me going thru the horrid ordeal (2.5 months in bed - 6 weeks wheelchair 6 weeks crutches) was the heelie group on yahoo. It's a place for people with heel injuries. we post our xrays - discuss our doctors - our successes and failures. Some have broken both heels, some needed surgery and some like me ended up with 9 screws. We even have our own silly online store cafepress.com/heelies. Some of the members madeup heel designs and put them on cups and t shirts. All sold at cost. There is always someone in those forums. even at 2am or 5 am.
Some people have ended up with more surgery - fusions and stuff. My doc wants to break my toes and cut the tendons so they lay flat again. They rub
on whatever shoes I buy, even wide width. My shoe size in that foot went up too. Weather affects me alot. hang in there. do alot of research on the internet you will find info if you search hard. the heelie group on yahoo has links and info on all the procedures, even if you do not like to post - you can read and do searches on things that bother you. The person who founded it still posts. She just finished a hiking trip in Alaska. and then went to Rome and somewhere else. Some, like her, heal better than others. I did a little search and came up with 5 people in my area and we have met for breakfast.
what a group! All limping, some on crutches, some with a cane! We get to compare and check out each others scars.

Hang in there - Ice and elevate
Lucy

[elesquiador]

Wow - new life in an OLD thread. I broke my calcaneous after coming up short on a big table about 5 years ago. My fracture was fairly small and I didn't need surgery. Actually, I landed it and skied out, but basically collapsed when I stopped and got out of my skis and tried to walk. I was in a cast for 6 weeks, and managed to ski again that spring. It bothered me from time to time for about two years, but I have not felt anything for a few years now. Hope some of these more severe injuries heal as well as mine did.

[megford4]

My name is Megan. I crushed both heels July 22, 2007. I have had a terrible time with this injury. I was for sure that I was the only person lucky enough to break both heels!! I am shocked to find someone else who has been through this. I would love to chat with some of you. I have so many questions!! My surgery was August 9th, 2007 and I don't feel like I am doing so great. I am trying to walk with canes and I am having so much pain. If someone is up for chatting with me about this, please email me!!! megford4@yahoo.com

[pyrofenix]

I found this thread while searching for information on heel injuries. I believe I may have fractured my right heel at some point. I am not in constant pain but have noticed the pain after being on my feet for awhile. I was hoping for some thoughts and was curious if anyone knew the average cost of an x-ray as i'm self employed and dont have health insurance.

Thanks ahead of time!

[drmark]

X-ray of the heel and ankle in my clinic is 90 bucks.

[JimLad]

I landed really hard on my left foot today in the park. Felt like a sledgehammer hitting my foot. Now I can't put weight on my heel. Off to the docs tomorrow, but I guess it's season over (and I was looking forward to spring touring damnit) :(

[JimLad]

Well according to the x-rays, no bones broken. So I guess that's good. Doc said likely the fat pad took a hit. Physio said some ligament sprains too, bit of swelling. Couple of weeks of physio, hopefully back on skis not too soon after but who knows...

[duckski]

Don't know if this will help you but maybe in the future. Did Ironman race last fall with stress fractured calcaneus and was in a cast post race for a month. Once you are cleared to do it, get in the pool and run. It's awesome and you are not weightbearing at all. make sure you stay in deep water and use a flotation belt. I came back from the injury - even skied all season - and ran the Boston marathon. You can gain/maintain a lot of fitness if you can get in the pool. And on the skiing, to get in and out of the boots, I got a heat gun to soften them up. Otherwise, it was impossible to get them on/off.

[JimLad]

Still have a little discomfort walking on it, not been skiing since I did the injury. I'm biking though, and going to physio. I hope it doesn't take toooo long before I don't feel pain :nonono2:

[Harley0711]

Found this old post while searching for heel injuries... I am post op by about 4 weeks.. still in hard cast - Dr says healing is going fine and I should get back to normal... I know only time will tell..

So, if any of the old posters are still on here?

How are your doing today (Sept 2011)

[Snowmiser]

Hi Harley!

Glad to hear that your Dr. says you're healing well! Make sure you keep your toes moving!! It's amazing how quickly they will freeze up! My heel is ten years post-op from my second surgery and other than not being able to walk on hard surfaces due to the lack of pad on the bottom of the heel, I'm doing great!

Once you get out of that cast and get the o.k., get some swim fins and work out your foot. Even if it's just in the tub. It really helps! Good luck, and hope you Heel well!

[Harley0711]

Swim finds in the bath tub. Now that will really make the wife happy, LOL..... Actually, as soon as I can (with Dr's ok) I plan to join a gym that has a pool....

Thanks for the advice

[zartagen]

Yet another broken heel here. I was skiing Park Lane in Breck closing day yesterday and I came up short on a 45 foot backflip and landed straight-legged. I smashed on the knuckle, right ski came off, and right foot exploded in pain. I skied down on one ski, and hobbled to a ski patroller at the base. He checked me out, thought it was a heel injury and advised I go to the ER. At the ER, my x-ray showed a broken calcaneus. I have to follow up with a foot ortho today.

The ER doc said it was likely that I need surgery. I'll find out more this afternoon. Any positive thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

115171

[Snowmiser]

That Sucks Zartagen! Sorry Man! Find a Orthopedic doctor who only works on feet and ankles. That will be your best bet for success! You've got kind of a long road to recovery ahead of you, but you'll get there! pm me if you want the name of my doc! He did an amazing job of fixing me after 2 other regular otho's left me limping!

Hang in there and prayers and positive vibes for you!!!:wink:

[zartagen]

Thanks, I saw a foot specialist here in Vail on Monday and had surgery Tuesday morning. He put in 2 screws and I'm non weight bearing for at least 6 weeks. Thankfully, my foot stopped hurting about 24 hours after the surgery. The worst part of this is a cramp in my right hamstring from holding up the hurt foot.

I broke my back 2 years ago, so I'm no stranger to long recoveries. So far, this is a much easier recovery process than that was.

[949rider]

broke both my heels 9-2-12 riding motocross and i dont need surgery on them.. just got my hard casts on yesterday, and the doc says ima need to have my casts on for two months! im hoping for a sooner recovery me being 23 and fairly healthy.. your guys thoughts? this is the best thread i came across

[cmor]

Whatever you do I wouldn't push it. As far as I know there is not much to be done to speed up recovery, and when I got back on mine too soon I ended up having pain for a couple of years. Suck up an extra month of healing time to not have to worry about it in the long term.

[949rider]

@ cmor- thanks man. i guess all i can do is stay off them and try and eat healthy, wanna get back on my bike asap

[949rider]

thanks man, its cool to be able to talk to someone that had the same injury... how long was it before u felt like you were back to normal?

[zartagen]

Hey guys, I'm 5 months out from breaking mine. I figured I'd summarize my recovery here.

I was on crutches and in a boot for 2 months. I started easing into walking slowly, starting with one crutch. I went to no crutches and no boot about 2 weeks after that. If I walked too much, I'd get a serious limp and I'd have to take a day off the foot for it to feel better.

I did PT from week 6 to week 12 twice a week, as well.

The swelling didn't really go away until about 3 months out and that eased up the pain immensely. I then started walking more and suffered a setback when the doc gave me a night splint to stretch out my foot at night. The damn thing stretched too much and I had pain and swelling for another 2 weeks.

From 3 months on, I started riding my mountain bike more and stretching and really working on my range of motion. The pain stopped coming from the fracture and more from the ankle movement. The more I worked on that, the less arthritic my ankle would feel. It would hurt that day, but I'd wake up the next day feeling even better.

After 4 months, it certainly wasn't 100%, but it no longer held me back from doing what I wanted. I've been hiking and climbing and biking pretty hard with little to no pain. Now there's just a little ankle stiffness after a long hike.

Because I got screws in mine, I was able to keep it moving as much as possible throughout the healing process. As soon as you can, I'd recommend moving your ankle as much as you can, but take it easy on the weight bearing.

Keep your head up, it'll be healed before you know it.